I Should Have Known Better
by naxmachine
Summary: Prompt: Beca has been singing "I Saw The Sign" too much, she's immune to billboard-sized signage.


**My very first story here in FanFiction! I adore Bechloe so much, I just had to make an account and write. Go easy on the reviews. This is a little long for a one-shot because I don't have the patience for multichapters.** **Hope you like.**

**PS. Italics are mostly Beca's thoughts or emphasized words, except for the movie titles and whatnot.**

* * *

The first time Chloe did it, Beca thought it was an accident. (Or at least she tried to believe so, to stop the weird hyperventilation that suddenly took her.)

They were sleeping, cuddled on Beca's sorry excuse of a couch-bed. It was futile to keep Chloe's arms away from her (she actually loved it but will never admit that to anyone) and the redhead burrowed deeper into Beca's neck, her breathing ticklish against Beca's ear. Beca tried to change positions because the sensation made her feel a little high. Chloe, however, only tightened her arms around Beca. "Mmmstop wriglnmf."

Beca lay still. "Good dog," Chloe said, rubbing her cheek against Beca's face. She then gave her a kiss that was a little suspicious - right at the corner of her mouth.

Beca's eyes went wide. She stared at Chloe. The redhead remained fast asleep.

* * *

The second time it happened, Beca excused it as Chloe in overjoyed mode. During the announcement of their win at ICCA, everyone - especially Beca and Chloe - were pleasantly surprised when Aubrey walked across the stage to the Treblemakers, grabbed Jesse roughly, and kissed him square on the mouth.

"Look at that!" John Smith boomed over the loudspeaker. "Aubrey Posen successfully sealing the deal with a kiss!"

"Officially Treble-boned!" Gail Abernathy added. "From now on, the a capella world will no longer remember Posen as Pukesgate, but as that courageous lady who - whoa!"

Beca was even more surprised when Jesse actually lifted Aubrey's legs to his waist to deepen the kiss. Her bro - _ugh, since when did that bro shit become real?_ - apparently has a thousand things he forgot to mention. "When did this happen?!" She yelled amidst the wave of cheering to an open-mouthed Chloe.

"Just now," Chloe shouted back, her cheeks a little pink from the effort of jumping and wolf- whistling. "We won! And Aubrey finally had the guts to tell Jesse and - " She suddenly pulled Beca's face to hers and gave her a resounding smack on the mouth. "Everything couldn't be more perfect!"

Beca tried to keep her face from flushing; her heart was doing complicated somersaults and she awkwardly looked away. Chloe, apparently not dwelling on the kiss as much as Beca did, resumed jumping up and down. Stacie had been watching them, shaking her head in what could only be called _sympathy._ Beca caught her eye. "What?"

"DJ - for all that badassness falling out your butt, you are a little slow aren't you?" Stacie barked, and pulled Chloe away to congratulate the newly-made couple.

Slow in what? Beca was still thinking about Chloe's kiss and Stacie's words all the way to the bus trip back, but for the life of her she simply couldn't figure it out.

* * *

The third and fourth time is when Beca was finally sure Chloe was doing it on purpose.

They were seated across each other on the kitchen of Chloe and Aubrey's off-campus apartment, eating cereal. Even when they were done with practicing, Chloe found a billion reasons to invite Beca to sleepovers. Eventually Beca stopped listening to the kooky explanations ("I think I saw a mouse and I don't feel safe") and just came over whenever she felt like it. (Which was rather often.)

"God, you wearing my shirt turns me on," Chloe joked. Or so she thought.

"You should see what's underneath," Beca countered. She was so used to easy flirting with Chloe, although the Bellas would have been catcalling had they been at rehearsals. Beca was currently wearing some Barden shirt Chloe had outgrown. Last night she dropped by on a whim after her shift at the station and sure enough, the redhead was still awake, watching _Game of Thrones_.

Chloe got up and walked over. Beca found herself staring appreciatively at the long legs because they screamed _catwalk material_. So Beca started when Chloe put her hands over the brunette's ear - _damn, her hands were warm_ - and turns her face towards her own.

"Maybe I should," Chloe shot back, and dived right in for the kiss Beca didn't know she was anticipating. Their lips had barely touched when Aubrey's voice made them jump.

"Get a room, people."

Beca looked at the blonde, wondering how she materialized in the kitchen. Aubrey was dressed in Jesse's jacket, a playful smirk, and nothing else. "Says the girl with ridiculous sex hair," Beca grumbled, annoyed at the interruption.

"Says the girl who was was licking her lips at the sight of Chloe's legs." Jesse appeared on the doorway, and Beca thought he and Aubrey spent too much time together because their smirks looked exactly the same.

"Backhanded compliment, but I'll take it," Chloe laughed. "And I'm out. Walk you to the door, Becs?"

"Uh, yeah," Beca managed to say, glad to be getting up and brushing off her blush after Jesse pointed her out. The two of them walked out to the hallway hand-in-hand. Beca frowned upon hearing Jesse and Aubrey cackling in the kitchen.

"Go home and meet me here later for lunch?" Chloe asked, unfazed. Beca could only nod. "Aca-awesome." She smiled and gave Beca a quick peck on the lips, and judging by the way all the blood rushed to her head, Beca was now very much sure it was real. And intentional.

And she liked it.

* * *

It happened so often now that she expects it every time one of them was leaving. The moment one of them says "I have to go," she tilts her head up - and gets rewarded with Chloe's split-second kiss that makes her feel all gooey inside.

Chloe was so unpredictable with her affections, though, that the kisses still manage to give her a kick every time. Chloe kissed her when they were at the supermarket and she couldn't reach the top shelf. When they were just walking arm-in-arm in the park and Chloe saw a baby. When Chloe was reading a book and looked up to find Beca staring. Once in front of Fat Amy and Lilly, even, when they arrived for some Bella house party and Chloe was so glad Beca didn't forget the champagne.

At random times of the day, the memory of the pecks make her smile. _We're, like, married,_ she thinks giddily. And then she catches herself, because her chest suddenly feels like it took a blow from a hammer. She realizes the tiniest detail wrong with the whole cute picture: She and Chloe are not married.

She gulps and shakes her head to clear it. A few mixes on her laptop later and the mirage is gone, but at the back of her head, the cerulean eyes and red hair lingered.

* * *

"Congratulations!" Beca bellowed from the couch where she was spooning Chloe. Aubrey and Jesse had just arrived at the apartment after dinner, and Beca couldn't pass up the opportunity to be a good- natured asshat. "First time I've actually seen you two fully clothed!"

"Can't say I enjoy the view as much," Aubrey giggled - _actually giggled_ - at Jesse, and Beca fought the urge to blow chunks. "I'll make coffee. Stay here and make sure Beca doesn't give me a reason to rip out her vocal cords."

"Yes ma'am," Jesse said meekly, settling on the nearest armchair. _New Girl_ was on the telly. "Since when do you watch these things?"

The brunette didn't answer, and Jesse realized she was gazing at Chloe's sleeping face with an expression that could only be described as _tenderness._ It was astounding how Beca went from snarky to sweet starting the day she met Chloe, and Jesse wondered how the hell they couldn't see each other's bulging toners. "It's funny."

Beca finally looked up. "What?"

"How I thought I was in love with you, and then we met two other people who were the best of friends and.." Jesse shook his head, marveling at the movie-trope-cheesiness of the whole thing. "We're Nick and Schmidt. And they're Cece and Jess," he pointed to the oblivious redhead.

"I am not Nick. There is not an ounce of fat and beard on me."

"Yeah, but you're kind of a social retard and you yell too much."

"Why thank you, Swanson. You're the perfect Schmidt. Douche."

* * *

Every love song was suddenly about Chloe Beale. This was seriously getting out of hand.

She realized this when they were about to leave Stacie's housewarming party last week. Chloe had a lot to drink, and she was going through the room saying goodbyes, Beca trailing behind. Chloe would give everyone a one-armed hug and a smile. _No kiss?_ Beca idly thought. Maybe it was specially reserved for best friends. Or maybe she doesn't do it when she's drunk.

Chloe finally found Aubrey and Jesse not-so-subtly making out by the door. "You're rabbits. It amazes me that the apartment is not knee-deep in sperm."

Aubrey turned scarlet. "Chloe! Shut the fuck up!" Jesse only laughed.

"Mmm, beautiful words to hear on a Sunday morning," Chloe quipped, making a show of glancing at her watch. Beca decided then and there she adored drunk Chloe. "Try a little tenderness, Bree?"

"Please shut the fuck up," Aubrey snarled. "Happy?"

"I'll take her home," Beca stifled a grin and led Chloe to her car. They would have to return for Chloe's tomorrow. She nudged Chloe gently into the passenger seat and strapped the seatbelt on. Then she started the car and turned on the stereo. Some Top 40 remix of love songs from the previous century blared out into the night.

"Ooh, I love this." Chloe stuck her head out the window, singing shrilly as the songs changed. Beca drove in silent amusement, eyes alternating between the road and the redhead, thinking of how every word in every song fit Chloe so well.

"I should've known better with a girl like you! That I would love everything that you do! And I do, hey hey hey, and I do!"

"Babe, you're waking up the entire neighborhood." Beca couldn't fathom where the endearment came from, but shrugged it off. _Chloe wouldn't remember any of it in the morning._

Chloe turned to Beca, singing right at her ear like there was no tomorrow. "I never realized what a kiss could be! This could only happen to me! Can't you see, can't you see?"

"Too loud, babe." Beca couldn't help but reach out, touching Chloe's face with one hand - and for the first time in her life, as though driven by some unseen force, she takes the plunge and plants a chaste kiss on Chloe's lips. Chloe's eyes were dancing with merriment, and Beca felt wild and strangely excited and she must be going crazy.

She took a deep breath. _Chloe wouldn't remember any of it in the morning._

* * *

"Out with it, Mitchell."

"Out with what, Swanson?" Beca growled, flicking through records with a vengeance.

She and Jesse were in their favorite hangout downtown, a records shop that also sold mint-condition DVDs of obscure movies. Jesse had an armful of them now, trying to decide which one would be perfect for date night. "Beca, you asked me out even if we've been at Aubrey's for three straight weeks. I don't think you wanted to see me outside the house just to show me you can ruffle through records like they did you a grave offense."

"Yeah, poor little records, receiving all the angry force I should be directing at you," Beca spat. "Did you really have to bring Aubrey?"

Jesse smiled at the mention of the name, and it still bewilders Beca that Aubrey actually inspires so much joy in someone. Aubrey, somehow sensing she was the topic of conversation, looked up from the other side of the shop. Jesse winked at her and Beca wanted to run because apparently Aubrey has psychic powers.

"Just look at her," Jesse said fondly. "You can't leave such a perfect girl back at your dorm. You gotta show her off to people."

"I will pull an Aubrey if you don't shut up. _I swear to God._ Listen, I need help."

"Thank god you finally acknowledged you need to go to Recluse Anonymous."

"Will you stop interrupting me?" Beca snapped, and Jesse tried to repress the grin on his face, waiting for her to continue. "For the record, forming a Recluse Anonymous is kind of_ pointless_. Now - in what movie did Aubrey Hepburn play a gold digger?"

Jesse let out a whoop. "The moviecation stuck!" The other patrons looked at the pair of them. Jesse waved at them unconcernedly while Beca glared.

"Do you know the answer or not? You better do because I am not willing to read butt-long descriptions of all her movies on Wikipedia."

"I know the answer," Jesse said, "but I'm not saying it until you tell me the story. Or unless you hold Aubrey hostage, which is harder."

"Ugh, you can keep her to yourself. _Please._" Beca turned back to the records, and Jesse could see her ears were red. She hated being prodded for information. "Chloe and I were playing high-stakes Tekken yesterday, random team battle mode. Whoever loses has to give the other any music or movie she wants. The console fucked up and assigned Yoshimitsu to Chloe. _Thrice._ Fucking beginner's luck. My team didn't live happily ever after. Okay?"

"Pray tell me more," Jesse intoned in a girlish voice.

Beca actually groaned in frustration. She should've known Jesse wouldn't let her defeat go untold so easily. "Chloe beat me eighteen to six. She said she wants the movie where Audrey Hepburn is a gold-digger and she just wouldn't tell me the title. I complained until she just kissed me and said I should - "

"Aca-scuse me?!" Aubrey breathed down behind her, and Beca could swear she felt fire singe the back of her neck. "Chloe did what?!"

Jesse was looking at Beca with mouth agape. Beca couldn't understand what was going on. "What is the big deal? She said I should compensate with a little hard work for being a loser and - "

"Chloe. Kissed. You." Aubrey rounded on Beca, and Beca thinks she now knows what 'livid' looks like. "Why aren't any of you telling me you are together? I'm her best friend and I cannot fucking believe - "

"She kissed you!" Jesse said excitedly, talking at the same time as Aubrey. "You said it! She kissed you! God, it took ages for you to get there but -"

"- I will kill you. I will kill you and Chloe and your bodies will be a cold, hard, gray example of what happens when you hide things from your best friend -"

"- how the hell did it happen? Where were we when it happened? Please tell me you did a grand romantic gesture -"

"Chloe and I are not together!" Beca finally cried, getting more confused by the minute. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Jesse and Aubrey looked at each other, confusion dawning on their faces as well. "You said Chloe kissed you," Jesse said. "Please tell me this kiss is on the lips. This in on the lips, right?"

"No, on the armpit. Jesus." Beca rolled her eyes. So they were fussing about the kiss. Already she was regretting carelessly mentioning it, but Chloe does it so often it wasn't really a big deal except when it happens and makes her toes tingle. "It was a peck. She does it all the time with everyone."

"My lips haven't been on the receiving end of Chloe's 'peck' ever. Not that I want to." Aubrey shuddered. "Are you always this slow, or did countless singing of 'I Saw The Sign' actually render you oblivious to fucking billboard signage?"

"A kiss on the lips is pure, unadulterated romance. Hookers will do anything except kissing. It's sacred and no one just throws them around. Not even Chloe," Jesse said seriously.

It was Beca's turn to gape, comprehension a long way from getting to her head, and Aubrey has had enough. She pulled Jesse down and gave him a brief, closed-mouth kiss, just the way Chloe does it. Jesse drew back with a goofy smile. "That was a peck," Aubrey said slowly and loudly, like she was talking to a senile person. "People who are in love peck each other. I love Jesse so I gave him a peck. If he doesn't love me back, he could've just pushed me away. But obviously he loves me too. And I am not willing to peck anyone else. This is how the world works."

Beca was gasping now, the realizations coming in too fast for her lungs to process. Jesse and Aubrey were just staring at her intently. It felt like everything she knew was reversed, like a vise was tightening around her chest, like her hands and feet have gone literally cold. Her head  
was spinning. Her ears were ringing with some strangely familiar hum - one she usually heard when Chloe was so close. She faltered a little and Aubrey caught her elbow to steady her.

"No." She managed to breathe out. "We're friends."

"Dude, Chloe loves you." Jesse said, rubbing Beca's shoulder, trying to calm her down. "And judging by the way you're close-opening your mouth like a fish, you're in lesbians with each other. What on earth is holding you back?"

"She doesn't - I don't - " Beca stammered. "She's - she's too beautiful. I'm just me. This isn't - "

Aubrey sighed. "I will only say this once. Chloe's loved you for a long time, even though you have all the charm and social skills of a hyena. She dreams about you and she makes plans twenty years ahead into the future with you. Unfortunately, you have a density that surpasses fucking _osmium_ - "

"- so please, get your head out of your ass and get her." Jesse shoved a DVD under Beca's nose. It was_ Breakfast at Tiffany's_, Audrey Hepburn gracing the cover. Beca's hands were so clammy she almost drops it. "You are the ultimate Holly Golightly. No wonder Chloe asked for this."

"Just fucking breathe. The world isn't ending." Aubrey said dryly, and it's exactly what Beca needed to recover. No way was she going to look any weaker in the blonde's eyes. "It's just about to get better, actually," Aubrey asserted in a much kinder tone.

"She loves me," Beca mumbled, a slow smile spreading on her face. Her eyes were wide with wonder and happiness. "She loves me. Too."

"Our work here is obviously done. M'lady?" Jesse extended his arm to Aubrey, who took it a rare smile. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're going home to peck like there's no tomorrow."

Beca made a face. "TMI!" Jesse only waved as he and Aubrey sauntered out the door, arm-in-arm.

* * *

Beca unceremoniously kicked the door open, breaking off the slide lock in the process. Chloe, watching _Parks and Rec_ on the couch, actually chucked the remote away with a squeak.

"You give me pecks. You give me more pecks than chickens at the damn poultry farm."

Chloe stood up, looking uncertain at Beca's imperious announcement. Beca knew her entrance was dynamite, that her eyes were aflame and her face was crazed with internal anguish, but she was not going to care about that lest her courage fail her.

"You broke the lock! Aubrey's going to throw a fit - "

Beca threw _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ on the couch and grabbed Chloe's arms. Chloe looked positively alarmed now. "Beca what are you - "

"Aubrey said you love me. That you've been so obvious about it. I'm sorry if, in Aubrey's words, I have a density that surpasses osmium. I know better now and I know that pecks are only reserved for people you love. Romantically." Beca took a deep breath, but Chloe at least didn't look so panicky now so she forged on.

"I get it now. I'm Holly Golightly. I'm clueless and always plotting shaky dreams while all along there's this very beautiful redhead always following me around, willing to put up with my antics and my cranky cat. But I am not going to wait until said redhead gets fed up with me and leaves me in the taxi. You'll never have to go out alone in the rain. We'll never have to be apart. I'm - " Beca gulped, " - I'm in lesbians with you. Even if you're a shower stalker and you always manage to kick my ass in video games you just learned. You're perfect and aca-awesome  
and I'm not sure how or why you would want some sorry person like me beside you, but please say you want me too."

Chloe exhaled, her eyes now twinkling. "Well, that escalated quickly."

"I - " Beca croaked. The well of words inside her seemed to have dried up. She nodded, feeling drained all of a sudden.

Chloe gently pried Beca's hands off her. In turn, she tentatively cupped Beca's chin in her slender, elegant fingers. "Thought you'd never ask."

Beca already had an idea of Chloe's feelings, but she didn't realize she was holding her breath, her entire body tense, until Chloe spoke. The four words hung between them and Beca's knees buckled when she understood the meaning of it all. Chloe guided her to the couch, and stared at her eyes.

"Seriously, Beca, I never thought you would. I was already contemplating jumping your bones next month because you totally had no idea. I can't believe you've just said all of that, actually." Chloe's thumbs drew lazy circles on Beca's cheeks. "I want to come home to you and have you rip my clothes at the doorway. I want to read to you in our bed. I want to perform a striptease for you. I want a house with you and Hermione, Harry and Ronald - who, hopefully, will not be as surly as you. If you think I'm aca-awesome, then the person I'm running after must be a hundred times more so. _And that's you, Beca._ I want to be your chicken for the rest of my life." Chloe pressed her forehead against Beca and giggled at her own words. "I'd like to give you pecks and so much more if you'll allow me. I want to make you absurdly happy. If this is what you want, then yes, I want you."

Beca grinned. "Yes," she whispered. Once it was all out, everything seemed ridiculously simple.

A tear fell from Chloe's brilliant blue eyes. She shrugged it away, and Beca instinctively moved forward, kissing Chloe's eyelids as lightly as she can. "My dream comes true and I'm reduced to a blubbering mess. It's a madhouse," Chloe mumbles. Beca put an arm around her and drew the redhead to her chest. They stayed that way for a long time.

"Wait - who is Hermione, Harry and Ronald?"

Chloe nuzzled Beca's neck lovingly, and she felt the redhead's lips on her collarbone. "I'm afraid I already took the liberty of naming our kids."

Beca chuckled at the response. Softly at the beginning, until the chuckle opened up her throat and built up to loud uncontrollable laughter. She didn't know how it happened but the relief she felt was unbelievable. Chloe watched her with the sweetest smile, passing the back of her hand to Beca's cheeks. It came away damp.

"You're cry-laughing," Chloe murmured. "Where are you hiding the axe, psycho?"

Beca blinked, not realizing that there were tears on her face. She felt like she was bursting with a pleasant, unknown glowing feeling inside her. "Sorry. I just..I seem mad, right? This is the first time things actually went my way. And I feel odd. This must be what cats feel - all warm and furry."

"That's called happiness," Chloe said, and she leaned in, pressing the softest of kisses on Beca's lips. Without thinking about it, she buried her hands on the lush red hair and kissed back. Happiness. She can get used to this.

* * *

"Guys, we have news." Beca announced. Chloe elbowed her ribs in mock annoyance. "Ow, okay - we have _good_ news."

The Bellas were sitting at their favorite spot in the diner, just hanging out before a night in some bar of Fat Amy's recommendation. Truth was, Beca didn't know how they would respond to said news. Aubrey, of course, already knew. Chloe went into the adjoining room right after Beca's declaration, and the blonde only huffed something like "I'm watching you, hobbit" while Jesse, clad in boxers and nothing else, hooted incoherently in the background.

"We're in lesbians with each other," Chloe said happily, looping an arm around Beca's waist. "We've already had our first date, named our future kids, fucked against the refrigerator - "

"Get that thing out of our kitchen!" Aubrey gasped theatrically.

"We did it on your bed," Beca can't help but tease. Aubrey was reduced to apoplectic growling sounds.

The other girls just looked at the couple, nodded, and went right back to chewing. "I thought you were already married," Cynthia Rose said, matter-of-factly.

"Don't see how it makes a difference," Lilly stage-whispered in agreement. "Carry on."

"Guys! We. Are. Serious." Beca cried, a little bothered that they were taking it rather nonchalantly. She looked at Chloe, who, turned on by her blazing blue eyes, grabbed her rather eagerly for a kiss.

Aubrey made a strangling noise. "Please don't penetrate Chloe in front of us."

"Not a very good reason to use the word 'penetrate'," Fat Amy mused.

Beca smiled into the kiss and flipped them off, eyes still closed. Chloe only moaned and went in deeper.

"Ooh, open mouth," Stacie said, starting to grope her own breasts. Aubrey slapped her hand away.

Fat Amy took out her phone and took a picture. "Work us too hard at practice, and you'll be internet celebrities next day."

Chloe had to break off the kiss and laugh at that one. Beca looked at her girlfriend's sky-blue eyes and joined in. Everything was all right.


End file.
